Making up for lost time

So India has finally gotten around to strengthen its trade relations with Africa. A pledge of $5Bn over the next 3 years in development support is a good start but not anywhere close to what China has to offer. A quick look at this article tells us how China is way ahead in their trade relations with Africa.

But India has its own strengths when compared to China. First and according to me the strongest is the relatively large number of the Indian Diaspora in Africa. Second, with a stronger and well established private sector, India can give stiff competition to the state-owned companies in China.

India may have been a little late in taking this step, but it's a start. The success would lie on India's pace with catching up on lost time & keeping up with it.

Spring season

The thing with being an ardent follower of The Economist is that it increases your faith in it with every passing day. Take for example this article which was published almost 2 years ago talking about the Arab Spring:

A quiet revolution has begun in the Arab world; it will be complete only when the last failed dictatorship is voted out.

Much to the magazine's prediction, the Arab Spring has spread across the MENA region. Many lives have been lost in the revolution that has been rather intense in Egypt, Libya & Syria. It's time these dictators stepped down and gave democracy a chance. But then again, is democracy the only solution?